


delicate palate

by KestralWatcher



Series: saving space [4]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Background immortal husbands, Canon Compliant, Dessert, Gen, Immortality, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:20:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25827307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KestralWatcher/pseuds/KestralWatcher
Summary: They pass around the gelato pints as if there is no time for the civility of bowls. Nile sticks to the raspberry and mango, though she looks longingly at the hazelnut, chocolate, and what looks like vanilla with crushed chocolate. (“Stracciatella,” Nicky says when she asks about it, and they repeat the word back and forth until he is satisfied with Nile’s accent. If she needs to learn Italian anyway, they might as well cover the important things.)Nile discovers a perk to her newfound immortality. Andy is not as lucky.
Series: saving space [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1870753
Comments: 47
Kudos: 440





	delicate palate

**Author's Note:**

> Canon compliant!
> 
> No beta, we die like immortals.

On their first full day at the Italy safe house, Joe drives him and Andy to the nearest town, and they return with bags of general supplies. Paper goods, coffee, a basic array of foodstuffs. A few changes of clothes and toiletries for Nile. They pick at a simple meal of pasta with pre-made sauce. Even Nicky’s exhaustion had overwhelmed his scorn for the food, as Nile only caught a few snarky comments when Joe boiled water. They all pass out early.

On their second full day at the Italy safe house, Nicky drives to the nearest town and returns with bags of ingredients. By now, Nile realizes that this is slightly more than a safe house. Nicky has purchased things for breakfast, lunch, and dinner—even restocking the spice shelf.

Once he finishes rearranging the spices to his liking, Nile perched on the counter to keep him company, Nicky returns to the freezer. He withdraws a plastic bag and shouts, “Andy! Joe! The gelato shop is still there!”

The way the other two immortals screech into the kitchen like cartoon characters amuses Nile to no end. Within moments, each has acquired a spoon. They pass around the gelato pints as if there is no time for the civility of bowls. Nile sticks to the raspberry and mango, though she looks longingly at the hazelnut, chocolate, and what looks like vanilla with crushed chocolate. (“ _Stracciatella_ ,” Nicky says when she asks about it, and they repeat the word back and forth until he is satisfied with Nile’s accent. If she needs to learn Italian anyway, they might as well cover the important things.)

This late in the afternoon, they have ruined any appetite for dinner. Despite the sugar rush, exhaustion continues to pluck at the edges of Nile’s awareness, so she sprawls in the armchair across from Andy while the men cuddle up on the couch. A football game is on, volume low, but only Joe watches with any sort of intent.

Perhaps twenty minutes have passed when Andy gasps and sits up straight. The reactions of her companions are instantaneous, and Nile goes from half-doze to 60 MPH in half a heartbeat. Andy waves them off as she lurches from the chair, a hand on her stomach, and quicksteps into her first-floor bedroom. Her bathroom door slams behind her.

Joe and Nicky launch into rapid-fire Italian, the worry in their voices clear, but Nile raises a hand to shush them.

No sounds of retching from the bathroom, but the toilet flushes once. Then again.

Oh. _Oh_. “Calm down, guys, it’s not her wounds,” Nile says. Andy’s current disposition is visceral in her memory. “Make sure she drinks a lot of water when she comes back. And takes more pain killers. Can I borrow the car?”

“Yes, of course, but—” Nicky gestures toward where Andy has retreated.

The unspoken worry is matched in both his and Joe’s eyes, but she waves off their concern. “Trust me. She’ll be fine. It’s a mortal thing. You can leave her be.”

At her use of the word “mortal,” their initial panic subsides. Honestly, it’s a good thing Nile is around with such recent memories of the state. As she plucks the car keys from the hook by the front door and climbs into the battered Fiat, Nile adds a “crash course in emergency medicine” to her lengthening to-do list.

Though Andy’s current situation is far from an emergency. Nile’s thoughts race on the drive into town. It makes perfect sense that Andy’s body has reverted to its original, pre-immortality state. A quick trip through Google the other day had given her some basic info on the Scythians. And while she still hasn’t pinned down Andy’s exact age, she knows that it’s _old_. Simply put, her mortal adult body could no longer deal with dairy products. Before, the causes of any potential discomfort had probably healed before they could show.

The shop clerk with decent conversational English who had helped Nile two days ago was working, so she gratefully accepts his assistance in locating the local version of lactase tablets. She tosses an additional item in her basket before she checks out.

When Nile returns to the house, Andy has emerged from the bathroom. Nile recognizes her pose of intentional stillness but does little more than note the glass of water Andy clutches before retreating to join Joe and Nicky to the kitchen.

She sympathizes with Andy. She really, really does. But she will explain lactose intolerance to the woman when Andy looks slightly less murderous. And besides, her new purchase calls her name.

Nile pulls the pint of plain vanilla ice cream out of the bag with something akin to reverence. This would either be the best day ever, or she would soon join Andy in her misery.

Joe tilts his head. “How can you eat more sweetness after all that gelato?”

Nicky doesn’t wait for a response from Nile. “And how can you think plain ice cream will compare afterward?”

She holds up a hand as she digs in her spoon and shoves a giant bite of ice cream into her mouth. It melts on her tongue. Other flavors had been available, and the mint chocolate chip had been tempting, but Nile wants to test her theory with a true original.

Nile means to space out the bites, but the first taste prompts more in quick succession. She notes a minuscule twinge in her stomach, so faint she’d probably miss it if not paying attention. Over the years, Andy had probably tuned it out altogether.

Her companions continue staring, occasionally breaking to catch each other’s gaze in shared confusion. Eventually, Nile will pause long enough to clarify her actions. Perhaps when she finishes this ice cream. Already, her mind whirls with further plans, lists of potential foods she’s missed out on for too long.

Tomorrow, she’ll go back to town and find a whole-milk latte as big as her head.

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. I have no idea what inspired this. I'm not even lactose intolerant.
> 
> 2\. I finally wrote an entire fic without once spelling "Nicky" as "Nicki."
> 
> 3\. Now I want gelato.


End file.
